Cityscape Global is touted as the barometer of the local and international real estate market.

This year’s edition of Cityscape was the largest in the last four years covering more than 25,000 sq m of exhibition space with over 200 participating exhibitors.

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Dubai and Gulf States Real Estate Market updates

Real Estate investment and advisory firm Jones Lang Salle in their Q3 2013 Dubai Real Estate Market Report says that the Dubai property market maintained their positive trend during the seasonally quieter summer months. While the retail, hotel and industrial segments continue to experience solid growth, the recovery of the office sector remains more selective and concentrated in the prime segment.

According to Jones Lang Salle, property prices in Dubai have risen over 20 per cent year-on-year, while property management company Asteco’s latest figures shows that the Dubai’s property market has risen in excess of 40% over the past 12 months.

Some experts in the real estate sector warns that these are signs of another property bubble similar to that which burst as a result of the global financial crisis.

However, a few other experts rule this out emphasising strong and solid economic fundamentals of the UAE, the emirate’s safe haven status and its likely win to host the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

According to Alan Robertson, CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle in the Middle East and North Africa: “Many of the new project announcements are as ambitious as ever but we are seeing a more mature and considered approach which will benefit the long term health and credibility of the real estate sector amongst domestic and international investors. There have been a number of new regulations announced and developers are increasingly recognising that the key to the success of individual projects is a realistic phasing strategy in line with market demand.”

Craig Plumb, Head of Research in the MENA region for Jones Lang Salle said: “There is some concern about the return of a bubble but we remain cautiously optimistic that the sector has learnt from past lessons. We are also confident that there are now enough mechanisms in place to manage the inevitable interest that Dubai continues to attract from a broad range of investors who continue to see opportunity and growth both now and into the future.”

Robin Bew, Managing Director and Chief Economist at the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) in their newsletter sent out today says that construction in the Gulf booms again with Megaprojects such as preparations for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar are one of the driving forces, as is population growth and Saudi Arabia’s efforts to diversify its economy.

The EIU report says that better infrastructure, such as metro lines and a planned integrated regional railway network, has some intrinsic economic value. But caution that the construction boom carries renewed risk of overreach.

The ‘Big Five’ investors in Dubai real estate

According to the latest report by Dubai Land Department (DLD), Dubai attracted nearly US$15.9 billion in investments in 2012.

“Investors from India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the UK accounted for 39 per cent of that figure, investing a combined US$6.2 billion in Dubai property,” says Wouter Molman, Exhibition Director of Cityscape Global.

According to the DLD, Indian nationals invested US$2.4 billion in Dubai real estate in 2012, British – US$1.3 billion, Pakistanis – US$1.1 billion, Iranians – US$826 million, and Russians US$640 million. The total amount of all foreign investment into the Dubai property sector in 2012 stood at US$9.8 billion.

GCC national investors also returned to Dubai real estate in full force in 2012, injecting a combined US$4.8 billion into the market. Of that figure, 1,955 UAE nationals accounted for US$3.5 billion worth of investments (73 per cent of GCC national investment).

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